Canada is threatening to cap
the number of foreign student visas if the quality of education and housing
doesn’t improve for the newcomers, a move that would limit an important source
of revenue for colleges and universities.“We are prepared to
take necessary measures, including significantly limiting visas, to ensure that
designated learning institutions provide adequate and sufficient student
supports,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters at an Ottawa event
Thursday.
The number of foreign students in Canada has
nearly tripled in the past decade, reaching more than 800,000 last year. The
students pay about five times as much tuition as Canadians and are also
grappling with soaring housing costs due to a severe supply shortage.
Post-secondary schools, and the provinces and
territories that regulate them, have until September to ensure that
international students are “set up for success,” Miller said. Canada has a
responsibility to support newcomers and protect them from “unscrupulous
individuals” who offer inadequate living conditions with inflated prices, he
added.
“There are in provinces the diploma equivalent
of puppy mills that are just churning out diplomas and this is not a legitimate
student experience,” he said. “There is fraud and abuse and it needs to end.”
International students pay C$36,123 ($26,204) on average for undergraduate programs, compared with C$6,834
for Canadian undergrads, according to Statistics Canada.
The immigration minister so far has been
reluctant to impose a cap on foreign student visas. Instead, he announced a
crackdown on private colleges in October, saying the government will prioritize
issuing permits for students attending institutions that provide top-quality
services and support, including housing.
Miller also announced an increase to the
financial requirement for new study permit applicants as part of his efforts to
ensure international students aren’t hit with sticker shock upon arrival in
Canada. Single applicants will have to show they have C$20,635, in addition
to their first year of tuition and travel costs, starting Jan. 1. It marks the
first change to the financial requirement since the early 2000s, when it was
set at C$10,000.
A policy that allows foreign students to work
more than 20 hours a week while class is in session will be extended until
April 30, Miller said.
